By: Shaun Donovan, Former Secretary of the Department for Housing and Urban Development The Kerner Commission report was a remarkable leap forward in at least three ways. First, most importantly, it represented our government stating the unvarnished truth about race relations in our country. In response to three simple questions from President Johnson—What happened? … [Read more...] about Honoring the Promise
A Matter of Democratic Survival
By Sherrilyn Ifill People think: everybody has a race, and so everybody knows about race. But civil rights is actually an incredibly complex discipline. To do this work, certainly to do this work as a litigator, requires that you understand history, that you understand sociology, that you understand economics, that you understand political science, that you understand … [Read more...] about A Matter of Democratic Survival
Reflections on Kerner at 50: Introduction
By Stephen Menendian & Richard Rothstein Fifty years ago the nation confronted a historical choice, but did not act. In 1968 a special commission— established by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate why uprisings broke out in more than 100 cities the previous year—warned that America was hurtling down a destructive path: “Our nation is moving toward … [Read more...] about Reflections on Kerner at 50: Introduction
Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: HUD Suspends AFFH Rule that was Delivering Meaningful Civil Rights Progress
By Justin Steil and Nicholas Kelly (in Poverty & Race Journal) After years of sustained pressure from civil rights advocates and support from across the housing and community development field, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in July of 2015 at last issued the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule. On January 5, 2018, however, HUD … [Read more...] about Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: HUD Suspends AFFH Rule that was Delivering Meaningful Civil Rights Progress
The Constitutional Right to Education is Long Overdue
By Derek Black Public school funding has shrunk over the past decade. School discipline rates reached historic highs. Large racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps persist. And the overall performance of our nation’s students falls well below our international peers. These bleak numbers beg the question: don’t students have a constitutional right to something … [Read more...] about The Constitutional Right to Education is Long Overdue
